Women in CrossFit Archives

By Devin Kelley

Athelo Group

Making a name for herself in the CrossFit industry and competing at her best level yet, Brittany Weiss is someone to keep your eye on.

@furyphotography

Born in North Carolina, Brittany Weiss spent much of her young life as a gymnast. Weiss fell in love with the sport at a young age and enjoyed 16 years of competitive gymnastics, but after high school, she knew that it wasn’t something she truly wanted to continue. Brittany did know that she wanted to keep that competitive spirit and love for fitness going. Fast forward 10 years later, she is now a 2x CrossFit Games athlete and trains full time chasing her dreams in San Diego, California. In this interview with Brittany Weiss, we will take a deeper dive into the mindset and workout regimen that has fueled so much of her success as a female athlete in the CrossFit industry.

Can you share with us an interesting story from the beginning of your career? Can you tell us what lessons or ‘takeaways’ you learned from it?

As I was first starting CrossFit, it really took me some time to understand that being strong is beautiful. I always loved the thought of having muscles and being defined, but coming from a sport where everyone wanted to be as skinny as possible, it was definitely difficult for me to be able to push all I’ve ever known off to the side. I now look at being strong as such a powerful beauty; it recognizes courage, strength, diligence, and grit. I want girls to know and encourage others that strong is the new beautiful.

Now let’s shift to the main focus of our interview about the workout routines of professional athletes. Can you share with our readers a few of the workout routines that you use to help you perform at peak levels? Can you help articulate what each of those workouts achieves?

My workout routine stays relatively the same on a day to day basis. The training day consists of two sessions: Morning and Afternoon.

Morning Session: Machine work (running, rowing, assault bike, etc), followed by an accessory piece that’s normally a specific focus. This off season for me has been all about getting stronger so most of my accessory has been focused on lower body; posterior chain and legs.

Afternoon Session: Lifting (snatch, clean, squats, upper body pressing etc. This changes everyday), followed by a CrossFit style workout (more skill workout) and more accessory.

My training is pretty straight forward and there really isn’t a certain workout I do everyday which is why I love what I do. It’s constantly varied and there’s always something new to do.

What do you do to prevent injuries during your workouts or during your competitions?

Warm-ups and cool downs are so important. I try to pay attention to every detail on how I’m feeling inside and out to make sure I’m doing all the things to keep my body feeling good.

My warm-up normally starts with an easy 10 minute bike to get some blood flow going. I then start firing the muscles that are being used in the session at that time so I can make sure they are awake and ready to get to work.

My cool down normally starts with an easy 10 minute bike to destress the body from all the intensity. I follow it with lots of stretching. My stretching sessions have a different focus depending on what I did each day.

What type of workout regime has helped you to rehabilitate from injury?

Thankfully I haven’t had many injuries in my life but I do try to destress my body through sauna and ice. I’m a firm believer of hot/cold therapy and it always leaves me feeling refreshed mentally and physically. As professional athletes, our bodies go through so much and what you put into it is what you get out of it. Giving your body love is important and this is what I do to help mine perform at its best.

What exercises do you do to strengthen your core?

Fun fact: Your core is what provides your body with the most strength. A strong core enhances balance and stability. I add a core piece into my training everyday. An example of a circuit I would do:

3 Sets

30 Russian Twists (each side)

30 Alternating Leg V-Ups

30 Flutter Kicks (each leg)

Rest 30 seconds

As a successful athlete, which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?

Hard Working: Work hard and you can achieve anything. Nothing beats one’s work ethic. I have never been a naturally gifted athlete. I have had to work really hard to get to where I am today. Sometimes it’s very difficult to see things come so easy to other athletes, especially if it took me years to accomplish. But the more I sit back and think, everyone’s path to success will be different and unique, and at the end of the day we can only pave the path of our story and it shouldn’t be through comparing ourselves to others.

Confidence: One of my favorite quotes; “It all begins and ends in your mind. What you give power to has power over you, if you allow it.” Your mind is such a powerful tool and your belief in your ability is so important. I lacked this for so long and it’s been hard to wrap my finger around why until I started spending my nights journaling and digging deeper and picking myself apart as an athlete. The belief is what I was missing and once I turned that around, I truly felt like my athletic performance took off. Every time I step out on the competition floor I remind myself that I don’t HAVE to do this but I GET to do this.

Trust in the process: I feel as an athlete, I am always wanting to do more and be more. I constantly feel like I’m not doing enough to get to where I want to be. It feels like the journey to the top is so far away. There are times I take 3 steps forward and then life throws me a curve and I take 5 steps backwards. It’s hard to understand in the moment, but everything happens for a reason. With every set back comes a learning opportunity. To learn is to grow, and growing is the point of life. There is beauty in the journey and no one becomes the best by taking the shortcuts.

It has been said that our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about the funniest or most interesting mistake that occurred to you in the course of your sports career? What lesson or takeaway did you learn from that?

Sports are competitive. When you are out there grinding and working hard every single day, I can promise you that other people are out there doing the same exact thing. One of the hardest things that has happened to me throughout my career was not getting picked for the Games Team. I always felt like I was the hardest worker in the room that just never got picked. I used this as fuel going into every season after that. I put my head down, stopped looking for validation from my coaches, and just worked. Each day I continued to remind myself that my time was coming, I just wasn’t there… YET. But I would be for every other season after that.

Can you please share ‘5 Things You Need To Create A Successful Career As A Professional Athlete?‘

Write down your goals and never lose sight of them

Hard Work and Consistency

Confidence and Self Belief

Lean on your support system

Get enough sleep

As a person of influence in your community, if you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be?

If I could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people it would be to help educate and inspire women to appreciate their bodies and to understand what it is truly capable of. I feel so many women struggle with body image and keep so much inside. So being able to have a platform and create a safe space for people to share their stories and support one another through their struggles would be amazing.

What is the best way for our readers to continue to follow your work online?

Instagram: @Brittany_Weiss

If you are eager to see what secret projects Brittany is working on now, keep an eye out for her new YouTube content. On this platform Brittany plans to give viewers more insight on what her day-to-day looks like with training, food, life, and everything in between. Weiss is excited to start sharing her story and life in different ways, on top of finding more ways to help and guide others.

Women Are Leading the CrossFit Revolution

With the rise of CrossFit came a new era of fitness culture – drawing the attention of many females – athletes and non-athletes alike. This ultimately led to an increase in popularity and support for women’s athleticism. This, however, wasn’t without its faults. Even with Title IX opening the door for women in so many different sports, women still face criticism in sports across the board, especially those that require a very muscular physique. Nevertheless, the changes in women’s workout culture began to catalyze a change in women’s body image standards and expectations.

Strength Redefined: How Female CrossFit Athletes Are Rewriting the Narrative

The commonly accepted and celebrated woman’s body type has been, and still tends to be slim, toned, and youthful. A study done in 2019 asked women to reflect on their body image before and after their CrossFit journey. Before, the ideas they had for their bodies were much like many other girls: “skinny” and “fit”. But after their participation, it shifted into descriptors like “strong” and “powerful”. We are beginning to see more of these kinds of characterizations through women in CrossFit, the media, athletic apparel companies, and our very own athletes. With the increase of women in CrossFit came a decrease of the idea that there is an “ideal body type”. The push to not conform to these standards is being championed by the women who have already broken them. It isn’t a matter of how women look, but what they are capable of and moving beyond what is known as “socially acceptable”.

Social media has played a major role in breaking the mold and veering away from firming and toning to power and strength. Female athletes have used social platforms to tell their stories by educating women of the true meaning of being comfortable in your own skin and how they have accomplished it through CrossFit. Fitting into a mold is a thing of the past, but it is not only social media that plays a role in breaking down barriers for women.

Athelo group athletes, Dani Speegle and Michelle Basnett, have first-hand experiences of how CrossFit has broken their own idea of what a woman’s body should look like and how their confidence has grown as a result. Speegle has spoken about the changes she sees in herself, especially when it comes to body image. She said, “It’s amazing how much clarity and growth you can accomplish when you’re not worried about how your clothes are fitting or how your legs are jiggling or how other people are looking at you.” Basnett has also spoken out by saying “I choose to have muscle because I like it, it gives me confidence and I enjoy learning what my body’s capable of… do what makes YOU feel good because at the end of the day that’s what matters.” By being a positive advocate for women in sports and to encourage women’s health, it breaks down stereotypes of what a woman’s body should look like.

Other women in the industry have spoken out publicly about stereotypes in the CrossFit industry. CrossFit athlete Amanda Barnhart is an advocate for health and body positivity. She said, “Life’s way too short to be constantly chasing ‘the perfect body’. And I encourage you all to remember to love yourself despite your insecurities and to please give yourself a little forgiveness when you aren’t perfect because trust me NO ONE is.” Women in the industry have created a safe environment for anyone struggling with their body image and CrossFit has become their way of sharing their own stories of striking down body image stereotypes.

The Future of Fitness & Female Empowerment

As women in CrossFit break down body stereotypes in the media, there is also a push for athletic apparel to keep up. Typical athletic apparel in the past has been made to fit a women’s body based on past ideas of what it should look like, but with the growing popularity of CrossFit and more muscular female bodies, this apparel just doesn’t cut it. Brands like Reebok are looking to evolve their collections. By conducting 3D body scans across 300 different CrossFit body types, Reebok can determine how to create functional apparel for these powerful women. As more companies enhance technology and their knowledge of CrossFit, and all women in sports, it will boost their brand image. Stepping into the future of women greatly enhances their step forward in the world of sport and seeing it through a new lens.

CrossFit continues to grow and attract women every day. Strength, power, and body empowerment in women is on the rise. As the media and apparel companies continue to support this, the ultimate hope and goal is that there will be no singularly accepted female body type. Women in CrossFit are making a move, breaking down barriers, and telling their stories. Following their lead will take us into the future of supporting all women’s body types, not just one size fits all.

Sources:

Tag: Women in CrossFit

Brittany Weiss: The CrossFit Star’s Rise to the Top

Women in CrossFit Are Breaking Down Body Image Stereotypes

Women Are Leading the CrossFit Revolution

Strength Redefined: How Female CrossFit Athletes Are Rewriting the Narrative

The Future of Fitness & Female Empowerment

Athletes

Brands

Athelo

Women Are Leading the CrossFit Revolution

Strength Redefined: How Female CrossFit Athletes Are Rewriting the Narrative

The Future of Fitness & Female Empowerment

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